The Denton City Council on Tuesday again delayed a vote on a plan to allow gas drilling across the street from homes and a city park, in a move designed to push the gas company to negotiate a less-controversial site.

The council voted 7-0 to table a special-use permit that would let Fort Worth-based Range Production Co. drill up to five gas wells inside Rayzor Ranch, a planned mixed-use development located on both sides of U.S. Highway 380 between Interstate 35 and Bonnie Brae Street.

The proposed 3-acre drilling site is north of a hospital and retirement community and within several hundred feet of homes and McKenna Park. Council members tabled the issue last month in light of heavy opposition from nearby homeowners and other residents who said drilling there would jeopardize public safety.

Residents again filled City Hall for Tuesday’s meeting, but they did not have a chance to speak. Some expressed frustration with the delay, but others praised it as a sign that the council was hearing their concerns.

“I think our voices were heard out in the park,” said Andrew Teeter, a college student who organized a rally against the drilling Thursday night at McKenna Park that drew about 100 people. “I think that the City Council has opened their eyes and would like to see it settled appropriately.”

Council members said they tabled the permit again so the city attorney’s office could set up a meeting between the would-be driller and the owners of the property’s surface and mineral rights. Council members hope to push the parties to agree to another drilling site in the southwest part of the Rayzor Ranch property, which would be farther away from the park and homes.

City Attorney Anita Burgess said the meeting would take place as soon as possible, but she could not provide a date. The city plans to invite officials with Range Production; Rayzor Investments, which owns most of the property’s mineral rights; and Allegiance Hillview LP, a venture representing developers and financial backers of Rayzor Ranch.

David Poole, senior vice president and general counsel for Range Resources, the parent company of Range Production, told council members he was open to looking at the alternative drilling site on the development’s southwest side. Poole said he did not know whether Allegiance Hillview would agree to the change, however.

The companies are in court over whether an agreement has expired that allowed gas drilling on the site across the street from McKenna Park, Poole said. A hearing is set for Aug. 14 in a Denton County state district court.

“I haven’t talked to them about this, but my expectation would be that they would be unwilling, in that vein, to deal with us,” Poole said.

Allegiance Hillview officials did not speak at the meeting and could not be reached for comment.

After the vote, college student Charles Grand stood from his seat in the audience and shouted, “Is this just a waiting game?”

Mayor Mark Burroughs shushed him, saying, “There is decorum in this hall.”

Outside City Hall, Grand criticized the council.

“It seems like a pretty logical decision that could have been made outright, which is ‘no,’” he said.

Another resident, Jason Netek, said the vote was a step in the right direction.

“I really appreciate the tone of it being either a delay or an outright no,” he said. “I’m going to keep coming back until it’s an outright no.”

The action came after council members met behind closed doors with attorneys on the issue Tuesday afternoon. Texas law broadly protects the rights of mineral owners to access oil and gas, so rejecting the permit could expose the city to lawsuits.

The property’s zoning allows gas drilling with a special-use permit. The Denton Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the permit in June with conditions meant to lessen the impact of noise and traffic at the site.

Critics say gas drilling would bring noise, dust and truck traffic to the area; pollute the air and underground water supplies; and expose residents to potential well explosions.

Range representatives say they would follow all city and state drilling rules and erect sound walls to reduce noise from the well site.

In March, Range applied for and received state permits for five gas wells at the site, according to records with the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas drilling. The site is part of a 419-acre pooled unit that includes the former J. Newton Rayzor family property, a state-owned highway (U.S. 380) and four adjacent tracts owned by Allegiance, state records show.

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com.